Avengers Alliance: The Novelization
by KnightMysterio
Summary: Agent Aaron Towers has just graduated from SHIELD basic training and become an official agent. So naturally, things go wrong. An energy pulse from space hits the helicarrier, temporarily disabling it, and strange energy crystals rain down from the sky, creating an arms race to use these versatile crystals... Based on the Facebook game, with some creative liberties taken.


_**Avengers Alliance: The novelization**_

_**by Jonathan "KnightMysterio" Spires**_

_**Chapter 1: The Pulse**_

All characters not original copyrighted to Disney/Marvel and used without permission for non-profit amusement reasons. Marvel: Avengers Alliance is a Facebook game, and anything related to that is copyrighted to them. All original characters are copyrighted to me, so no stealz.

Author's Note: I'm using a male Agent here, but my in-game Agent is female. Friend me on Facebook if you need an ally! Also, while I will MOSTLY follow the storyline of the game, I will add my own flourishes and sub-plots here and there.

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Helicarrier...

Men's restroom...

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Newly minted agent Aaron Michael Towers grinned widely at his reflection in the mirror as he looked himself over, admiring the form-fitting Kevlar uniform he wore. He had just graduated from basic training and gotten his full certification as an agent of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or SHIELD for short. It was a dream job, and he was more than happy to be a part of such a prominent organization.

He ran a hand through his short brown hair, chuckling. While he, at his core, knew that he had joined because he wanted a chance to do some good, to help people as a member of SHIELD... really, he just wanted a chance to work with all the cool superheroes SHIELD associated with.

And while he was a low level agent with just Level One clearance, the fact that the Initiative had worked so well meant he'd get that chance. Just today he saw Spider-Man crawling along the ceiling, apparently having gotten some help earlier today in dealing with the Vulture. He had talked to Spider-Man briefly, the web-slinger charming and funny. (Mentioning that he never believed all the negative articles J. Jonah Jameson had printed about him seemed to endear him to the wall-crawler almost immediately.) Agent Towers took that as a sign, that his career was going to be awesome.

"Getting yourself all pretty, Agent?" said a voice from behind him. Agent Towers eeped, startled, and spun around, seeing Tony Stark standing in the doorway to the bathroom. He wore a loose-fitting short-sleeved dress shirt, red tie, and black dress pants, an insolent smile on his face.

Agent Towers saluted. "Sir, no sir. I'm just admiring my new uniform, sir. I just got my certification and clearance, you see, and..."

Stark scoffed. "Stop that 'sir,' crap," he said. "Fury's the one you call sir. I'll settle for Mr. Stark, if you feel like being respectful."

Agent Towers grinned. "Yes, Mr. Stark," he said.

Stark chuckled. "So! All excited, are we?" he said.

Agent Towers nodded. "This is... well, basically this is a dream job, sir. I mean, Mr. Stark," he said. "I wasn't lucky enough to be born a mutant, and the way things have been going I'm unlikely to have a superpower-causing accident, so SHIELD was the best way I could do some good and meet some of my idols. Like you, sir!"

"Flattery only gets you so far with me, Agent," Stark said, smirking. "As for the whole, 'lucky enough to be born a mutant' thing, you do realize that mutants with superpowers are actually pretty rare?"

Agent Towers blinked. "Huh?"

Stark nodded, strolling into the bathroom and heading for a urinal. "Oh yes," he said. "Most just end up with a physical mutation of some sort. More Morlocks than X-Men, really. It's why Xavier initially gathered some of the superpowered ones to his banner, to protect the rights of the ones that just looked weird by giving a good impression of the mutant community in general. Didn't quite work out that way, but the sentiment was there."

"Oh..." Agent Towers said, frowning. "I didn't know that, sir." He turned away politely as Stark relieved himself.

Stark, finishing up, chuckled as he zipped up and went to wash his hands. "No worries, Agent. The sentiment is appreciated and would probably get a laugh from the X-Men," he said.

Agent Towers just blushed, grinning.

Stark chuckled. "Relax, kiddo," he said, patting the Agent on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Agent Towers said, grinning. "But it's really nothing compared to what you've done. All your heroics as Iron Man, plus practically uniting the superhero community with the Initiative! Remarkable!"

Stark shook his head, shuddering. "You have no idea how badly that could have gone, kiddo," he said. "If I hadn't been able to get Cap to go along with it..." He looked the Agent directly in the eyes. "Before I signed on with the Initiative, before I took it public, I went to the Watcher. I convinced him to let me see several possible futures, including one where things ended in a superhero civil war."

Agent Towers went wide-eyed. "What?! That would never happen!"

"I like you, kid. Hold onto that optimism," Stark said, chuckling. "But apparently it did. I became a red and gold Doom, and Cap got arrested and killed. I learned from seeing that reality. I corrected the mistakes of my other self, and the Initiative went off without a hitch. Remember Stamford, Connecticut?"

Agent Towers frowned. "No... Should I?" he said.

"You shouldn't. After all, it was just another superhero fight between the Avengers, the New Warriors, and Nitro," Stark said. "But in the reality the civil war happened in, it was just the New Warriors versus Nitro. And he blew up, killing the New Warriors and reducing Stamford, Connecticut to a crater."

Agent Towers paled, his legs suddenly going weak in the knees as the implications hit him. "So if the Avengers hadn't been there to back up the Warriors..."

"Then things would have gone to Hell quite quickly," Stark said. "As it stands, I showed Cap my findings from the Watcher, both the bad realities and the good. And he agreed, the Initiative was needed. You know the rest, and here we are..."

Agent Towers nodded, shivering. "Yeah... I'm glad things turned out like this..." He thought for a moment, and added, "But really, that just means you saved the world again, sir! You stopped a civil war from happening because you had the common sense to check what might happen!"

Stark laughed. "As much as I enjoy fanboys, I'd keep it down around Directors Fury and Hill," he said. "I _may _have pushed too many of their buttons earlier today and they're not that fond of me right now."

Agent Towers grinned. "I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Stark," he said.

And then they were both thrown off their feet.

Stark and Agent Towers both slammed hard against the ceiling as the helicarrier shook, leaning steeply to the left as if it had been physically struck. Both of them landed hard on the floor, thankfully missing hitting anything other than the floor. They slid around as the helicarrier leaned, Agent Towers barely managing to keep from screaming in fear.

After several minutes, the helicarrier stabilized, Agent Towers and Stark picking themselves up off of the floor.

"If you'll excuse me, Agent," Stark said as he picked himself up, "I need to go put on my 'dress uniform.' I have a distinctive feeling I'm gonna need it pretty soon."

Agent Towers nodded. At the same time, a voice came over the shipwide intercom, sounding distorted as if from damage. "ALL HANDS THAT AREN'T DEAD REPORT TO THE COMMAND DECK _RIGHT NOW_!" came Fury's distinctive bellow.

Agent Towers staggered to his feet. Stark had already left, heading for his armor, while Agent Towers ran down the hallway to the main deck, forgoing the elevators (which weren't working anyway). By the time he got to the command deck, he was out of breath (he had been off-duty, the bathroom he was in on the other side of the helicarrier), but still ready for action.

What he found, though, was chaos.

Monitors were sparking, showing scrambled signals, and in many cases had outright exploded. Agents lay bleeding and broken from impacts, making Agent Towers realize how lucky he had gotten. Several windows on the command deck were shattered, and at the main command platform, Director Nick Fury and his second-in-command, Director Maria Hill were shouting out orders, having still upright Agents tend to the wounded.

Agent Towers ran up to them. "Sir, ma'am, Agent Towers reporting for duty!"

Fury turned, having to turn further than usual to see him as he was on the side of Fury's face with the eyepatch. "Agent Aaron Towers?" he asked. Agent Towers nodded, and Fury sighed in relief. "Thank God... At least one of you is alive..."

Agent Towers froze. "W-What?"

Hill sighed. "Your class of recruits was one we needed, Agent," she said, turning briefly to bark an order at a medic. "Most of them were in the starboard staff lounge when whatever that energy pulse was hit us. A cart of weapons that was being transported by the lounge at the time of the pulse and detonated, killing everyone inside the lounge from the shrapnel."

"The rest were topside, getting training on use of the dropships. One of which fell on them after the pulse hit," Fury said, scowling at the misfortune. "Too many good agents and raw recruits lost because of this..."

Agent Towers staggered. Memories of all his friends flashed through his thoughts, the Agent staggering as he realized all of his comrades were dead. Elena, who had a crush on Captain America. Dietrich, the class clown, shooting off more quips than Deadpool. All of them, dead...

"On your feet, soldier," Hill said, giving him a sympathetic look. "I know it's hard to lose people in your unit, but we need to stand tall right now. We still have a duty to those that are left."

Agent Towers nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It was still agonizing, but Director Hill was right. Focusing on those who could be saved was priority.

"You haven't explained WHY his class was needed, Maria," Iron Man's voice said, coming over the intercom.

"Stark? Damn it, quit hacking our systems!" Hill snarled.

"Stop using such easy-to-hack systems," Iron Man teased, Agent Towers almost hearing the smirk in his voice.

Fury shook his head. "Where are you?" he demanded.

"About a half-mile above the helicarrier, checking the rotors," Iron Man said. "Thankfully, they all seem to be in perfect working order." 

"We only just now got them back online," Hill said. "Plus, we've lost several agents from having equipment detonate or fall on them."

"Damn it..." Iron Man said. "Have you told Agent Towers what his class was for?"

"I was getting to it," Hill muttered.

Agent Towers frowned. _What's going on? _he thought.

"Tell him," Iron Man said. "He deserves to know, especially since he's the only one left."

Hill looked to Fury, who nodded. She wiped her forehead, gathering her thoughts, and turned to Agent Towers. "Part of the deal we worked out with the government when the Initiative turned out to be successful is that each team of superheroes would have a SHIELD agent supervising them. We specifically chose you and the others because... well, you're all superhero fanboys. You'd be able to enjoy working with the heroes, appreciate their not-exactly-regulation natures, and be likeable to them. You were all trained to be able to keep up with them, and were to be provided with equipment to help you fight alongside them. Right now, you're the ONLY survivor of that class, which means..."

"Congratulations kiddo," Iron Man said, "you're now the leader of the Avengers. And every other superteam on Earth."

"Your clearance is going to be upgraded to level 10, same as our other top agents, once we get our computers working again," Fury said. "We can only give you a standard issue needlegun for now, but the more we get working again, the more we can authorize you. I know it's a lot to take in, but unfortunately, we have to move fast now."

Agent Towers just stood there, blinking, as his mind tried to process the fact that he had just been essentially handed command of every superhero on Earth. Finally, after several moments of processing, his brain decided on an appropriate course of actions.

He let out a strangled squeaking sound and fainted, falling flat on his face.

Iron Man cackled. Hill just held out her hand, smirking, as Fury handed her a twenty dollar bill, grumbling.

"He actually took that better than I thought he did," Iron Man said, still giggling.

"Just keep looking for damages," Fury snapped.

"Yes captain my captain," Iron Man quipped, continuing his work and pointing out damaged exterior spots, other agents moving in to fix the damaged areas.

Agent Towers slowly came to, his immediate thought to curse himself for fainting, and in front of Nick Fury and Maria Hill no less. Gah. Hill acknowledged him with a nod as he stood up, coordinating recovery efforts with Fury. Agent Towers frowned, unsure of what to do, when he noticed the specks in the sky.

Specks that were getting closer.

"Um... Director Hill..." he said.

"Not now," Hill said, she and Iron Man discussing damages to a lower area on the helicarrier.

Agent Towers stared up at the descending specks of light. They were definitely getting closer. And if he judged correctly, they were heading right for Maria Hill's head.

"Ma'am?" Agent Towers said again, tapping her shoulder.

"Not now," Hill said. "We're getting some strange readings, we need to identify where they're coming from."

BOY those specks were getting closer fast. "Ma'am, I think you should..."

"Agent. HUSH," Hill said firmly, turning to glare at him. "Whatever it is can wa..."

"Oh God damn it, INCOMING!" Agent Towers shouted, grabbing Hill and holding her behind him. His shouted warning saved lives, as tiny shards of crystal began to rain down. Fury barely managed to dodge back as the crystals rained down, other agents taking cover or guarding the wounded with their bodies as crystals barraged the helicarrier. The distinctive sound of Iron Man's repulsors came from outside as Iron Man shot anything that came near him out of the air. Some agents were not so lucky, the shards hitting them in the head, radiating energy that made their heads explode.

The shards headed towards landed precisely where Agent Towers thought they would, only instead of hitting Hill, they hit him in the back and in the back of the neck, tearing through his uniform with a sound not unlike bullets hitting flesh. Agent Towers screamed as the tiny crystal shards glowed with energy, slowly merging with his body as he fainted. The last thing he heard was Hill's frightened cry of "AGENT TOWERS!" as he fell unconscious.

He woke up again in a medbay. He felt fine, aside from a sore back. He looked around, seeing Director Hill sitting in a chair nearby, reading a book. She looked up and smiled warmly, looking relieved he was awake.

_She's pretty when she smiles, _Agent Towers thought absently, dismissing the thought at once.

"You're awake? Good, good," she said. "Thank you for saving me, Agent."

Agent Towers grinned. "No problem, ma'am," he said. "What happened, anyway?"

"Well, for one thing, you've developed a superpower," Hill said, reaching over to grab a file.

Agent Towers blinked, his eyes widening. "Whu... really?"

Hill nodded, her expression becoming stern again as she read from the file. "You now have what's basically called a 'subspace pocket.' A pocket dimension that's personalized to you that you can store numerous items and weapons in, and can draw from at any point simply by willing the item you want to come to your hand," she said. "It said in your file you're a fan of anime and cartoons, yes?"

Agent Towers nodded.

"It's similar to when the characters in those reach behind themselves and pull something out of nowhere. A few other agents have developed similar power from Isotope-8 exposure, or Iso-8 for short. That's what our science teams are calling these crystal things, anyway. Because you got a LOT of exposure, you're now slightly tougher, stronger, more agile, and a bit faster on your feet, too. Nothing too superhuman," she said, "but you could probably almost match Captain America now."

"Whoa..." Agent Towers said, looking at himself.

Hill smirked. "Don't get cocky. I've seen Cap take down bigger and tougher mooks than you, Agent," she said. "In the meantime, we've got a new problem."

Agent Towers looked up, confused.

"Raw exposure to this stuff gave you low-level superpowers," Nick Fury said as he came in the room, looming over the two already in there. "It's been a day since the pulse rained down, and our scientists are STILL finding new uses for Iso-8. About several trillion crystals of this shit rained down all across the planet. The US, England, Wakanda... Latveria..."

Agent Towers grimaced, paling visibly as the implications set in. "The villain scientists... If they can refine it..."

"Yeah," Fury said, scowling. "We're in an arms race now, Agent. And we need to win."

_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_


End file.
